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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. bank — for money
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. press — to push
  9. last — finally
  10. press — newspapers
  11. bank — for money
  12. cold — not warm
  13. current — electric
  14. last — final
  15. row — a line
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. last — to go on
  18. bank — of a river
  19. current — of water
  20. row — to paddle
  21. cold — an illness
  22. press — a publisher
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. current — happening now

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com